Elk Grove double murder and suicide 'orchestrated,' final note makes clear

A two-page suicide note left by Kenneth Johnson reveals disturbing details of the financial woes that led the 47-year-old unemployed Elk Grove Village plumber and carpenter to shoot his wife and stepson Friday before turning the rifle on himself, police said Wednesday.

Johnson shot his wife, Nanette Johnson, 48, and her 24-year-old son, Kenneth Sova, multiple times at about 7:30 a.m. Friday.

Police revealed Wednesday that Johnson called his brother immediately after the killings to tell him what he had done and was about to do next. He then drove a minivan to a soccer field across the street from the condominium complex where the family lived, set the van on fire and shot himself in the head.

Johnson's brother immediately called police, but neighbors who heard the first shots had already called 911. Officers arrived, forced their way into the unit and discovered two bodies. A rifle was later found inside the burned-out shell of Kenneth Johnson's van.

Johnson's final note said he had been out of work for four years and his unemployment compensation had run out, Elk Grove Village Police Deputy Chief Michael Kirkpatrick said.

"The state had paid him to stay home and now with his benefits running out he was going to have to find work, and he didn't want to do that," Kirkpatrick said paraphrasing Johnson's suicide note.

Why he chose to kill his wife and his stepson was not made clear in the note.

Johnson wrote that his wife, Nanette, didn't work and had some health issues, and that he didn't like her lifestyle.

The only breadwinner in the family was Sova, a 2004 graduate of Elk Grove High School, who was believed to be a mattress salesman.

Johnson's suicide note never mentions his grandson Sova's 2-year-old son, Nicholas but left instructions for family members on how to care for his pets. Two cats and a dog in the condo at the time of the killings are now in police custody, Kirkpatrick said.

Nicholas was not in the condominium when his father died, police said Friday.

Kirkpatrick said Johnson appears to have carefully planned and executed the murders.

"He knew what he was going to do," he said. "He orchestrated it. He wrote notes. He left documentation for us at the scene. He left some medical records in a file for us for himself so we could contact his doctors if need be."

Kirkpatrick said police are still trying to trace the origin of the rifle with help from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. It's unclear how long Johnson had the rifle as he did not have a Firearm Owner's Identification card.

Kirkpatrick said while there were disputes between Johnson and his stepson, there was no history of abuse or records of calls to police from the family's residence on the 100 block of Boardwalk Street, near Arlington Heights and Biesterfield roads.

Interviews with family members yielded no additional clues to what could have triggered Johnson's actions, Kirkpatrick added.

Police said they have no evidence Johnson suffered from mental health issues or was taking medications.

"They had no indication that anything like this would happen," Kirkpatrick said. "I don't know if there's any one thing.

"I don't think it's just being unemployed. I don't think it was just that his benefits had run out. There are other options. His stepson was still working and bringing money into the home. I don't know what pushed those buttons."

Police this week interviewed Sova's birth father, who lives in Arizona but is in town for the funerals of his ex-wife and son.

Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. today at the Norris-Walen-Segert Funeral Home, 132 Fremont St., West Chicago. Interment will be in Assumption Cemetery in Wheaton.